Communications networks are implemented to enable the transport of information among users and devices. Examples of such networks include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), the Internet, and so forth.
Communications networks typically include switching nodes (such as Ethernet switches) that are able to receive packets, read the target address of each received packet, and forward each packet to the appropriate port associated with the target network segment. Other types of network elements in a communications network include routers, bridges, hubs, and other network devices that are coupled together and configured to pass data to one another. Data is communicated through the communications network in protocol data units, such as frames, packets, cells, or segments between network elements by utilizing one or more communications links.
Some communications networks, such as networks that implement Split Multilink Trunking (SMLT), provide for failure protection mechanisms to address points of failure in the communications networks. Such failure protection mechanisms provide for a technique to re-route around single points of failure within a communications network.